Revelation 6

Revelation 6:1-2

If the reader has followed the preceding chapter he is ready to behold the sweep of vision beginning with the opening of the first seal. Let it not be forgotten that the sealed book is the book of destiny, and that as it is opened the symbolical map of the future is unrolled. The sixth chapter opens with these words: And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals; and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see. And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him and he went forth conquering, and to conquer. As the first seal was broken a vivid scene was stamped upon the apostolic vision. There swept along a white horse, upon which sat a crowned warrior, armed with a bow. And he went forth conquering and to conquer. This is what John saw. We are to remember that it is a picture of some event or events of future history. We are to remember that it is symbolical, and that, instead of looking for a literal fulfillment, we are to ask the meaning of the symbols. There are several features of the vision that fix our attention:

1. The horse.
2. His white color.
3. The armed warrior.
4. His crown.
5. His bow.
6. His mission. It is certain that none of these features would have been named if they did not possess a significance. THE WHITE HORSE.–1. What does the horse signify in Bible symbolism? Any symbol dictionary will inform the reader that the horse is a symbol of war. He was never used by the Jews or Orientals as a beast of burden. The ox and the ass were devoted to that office, and the horse was reserved for war. Whenever the horse is mentioned by the prophets it will be found in connection with war-like employments.

For the reason that he was solely a war-like animal, the multiplication of horses was forbidden to the Jews by the law of Moses. In the sublime description of the horse found in Job 39:19-25, there is only notice of those qualities which pertain to war. Hence this symbol points to a period of war, though it alone does not declare whether the conflict is carnal or spiritual, is triumphant or disastrous. 2. As there are three more horses in succession under the three following seals, each of different colors, the color must have a meaning. White must have a different significance from red, or black, or pale. What is indicated by the color of the first horse? White is the color of prosperity, of happiness. When the generals of that great empire of which Paul was a citizen, and John a subject, returned to the Roman capital from victorious campaigns over the enemies on the distant frontiers, they halted, without the city walls, until the, Senate decided how they were to enter.

If it was voted that the general was entitled by his victories to a triumph, milk-white horses wore attached to his chariot, and, drawn by these, followed by the spoils of war and a long line of captive princes or generals, he entered the gates and marched through the streets of the imperial city. The white horse indicates conquering war. As a symbol it always indicates triumphant war. In the nineteenth chapter, when the mighty wearer of many crowns moves upon the nations with the two-edged sword of conquest, he is represented as riding upon a white horse. We also know that the bearer of the bow, whoever or whatever may be signified, is a conqueror. He went forth conquering, and he continued to conquer. THE WARRIOR.–The facts already noted declare the mission of this warrior. His mission is to conquer. The language and symbols all point to a period of triumphant war. The bow is a warlike weapon. It could be an emblem of only two things–of hunting and of war. In this connection it certainly means the latter. There were bowmen in all the ancient armies; but if we can find any race whose national weapon was the bow, this symbol would seem to point to such a race. The crown upon the head of this conqueror indicates that he shall be a crowned monarch. Nor shall he be crowned as the result of his conquests. The crown shall be given him before he goes forth to conquer. The special mission of the warrior will be considered under the interpretation. THE MEANING.–We have now determined the meaning according to the laws for the interpretation of prophetic symbols. It remains to ask whether, near the period when John wrote “shortly,” there are events, in history which would correspond with the symbols. These events, too, must be within the, scope of prophecy. They must refer to the Church, or to the Roman Empire, within whose vast boundaries the Church was confined. The events will show that the reference in several of the seals is directly to the Empire and indirectly to the Church. As this is the first seal, it is of the utmost importance to a correct interpretation of what follows, that its true meaning should be learned. A mistake made at this point will be fatal. He who starts wrong cannot escape the consequences of his error. I shall therefore take an unusual amount of space to determine its meaning beyond a reasonable doubt. John has indicated the time when the march of history symbolized in Revelation would begin. He has said that the events must shortly come to pass. This language implies that they would begin within a few years, at most, of the time when he wrote. As we have found that the date of his banishment to Patmos was about A. D. 95-96, it is therefore to be expected that the first epoch would begin about the commencement of the second century. Many interpreters have held that the seal symbolizes the progress of the Church, and that the crowned conqueror is Christ. I dissent from this view for reasons that I will indicate. (1.) Christ appears often in Revelation, and there is always something symbolical about the manner in which he is represented. In the fifth chapter he appears under the symbol of a Lamb; and again, in chapter 14, it is the Lamb who stands on Mt. Zion. In the fourteenth verse of the same chapter one “like the Son of Man” is seen upon a white cloud, with a sharp sickle in his hand, to indicate that the harvest time has come, when the earth shall be reaped. In chapter 1, the Son of Man is seen, radiant as the sun, with a two-edged sword proceeding out of his mouth.

In chapter 19 one sat upon a white horse, who was called Faithful and True, wearing upon his head many crowns, clothed in a vesture dipped in blood, and out of his mouth proceeded a sharp sword, emblematic of the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. The sword, the weapon by which the Roman soldier had conquered the world, is constantly used as a symbol of the Word, which is Christ’s instrumentality for reducing the world to his sway. The conquering Savior is constantly pictured forth with the sword proceeding out of his mouth, but never appears with a bow. His conquests are effected with the sword of the Spirit. The bow must possess a significance. He who rides upon the second house has a great sword, and the rider of the third horse carries a pair of balances. If these symbols have a meaning, so also must the weapon carried by the rider of the white horse. It is evident, from the bow, that the rider is not Christ. I assign still another reason why Christ is not meant. There follow in succession, as the seals are opened, four figures riding upon horses of different colors.

It cannot be that these kindred symbols refer to entirely different realms. If the first horseman represents a spiritual power, the three others cannot represent material agencies; yet nearly all interpreters admit that the red horse is a symbol of carnage; the black, of mourning, caused by distress and oppression; and the pale horse, of famine and pestilence. It therefore follows that the white horse also must represent some kind of an earthly agency. It must refer to some period of prosperity and triumphant war closely following John’s exile to Patmos. As it has an earthly signification, it is probable that we must look for an epoch in the history of the Roman Empire, beginning near the opening of the second century. I ask the reader to study the history of this period. THE EPOCH OF TRAJAN.–I hold that those symbols are surprisingly fulfilled by an epoch beginning with the reign of the emperor Nerva, of which Trajan is the principal figure. John was an exile on Patmos in the last year of the reign of Domitian, A. D. 96. In that year the tyrant was slain. The humane Nerva succeeded him upon the Roman throne. With his reign begins a new epoch, it once the most brilliant and the most prosperous in Roman history.

He was the founder of a new family of Cζsars. He adopted, as his son and successor, the warlike Trajan, and four years later that distinguished warrior and conqueror received the crown. His reign, beginning some four or five years after John wrote, constitutes one of the most remarkable eras in Roman history. He went forth “conquering and to conquer.” His incessant wars were uniformly triumphant, and during his reign the Roman Empire reached its greatest dimensions, since a great part of his possessions were resigned by his successor, never to be recovered. Vast is were the limits of the empire under Julius and Augustus Cζsar, the empire ruled by Trajan was much more vast. The mighty kingdom of Parthia, in the heart of Central Asia, which had before successfully hurled back the Roman armies, was laid prostrate at his feet, and his victorious legions then turned southward, until they stood upon the shores of the southern seas.

The terror of the Roman name was carried into kingdoms that had never before seen the face of a Roman soldier. While his greatest conquests were in Asia, in Europe, also, he ruled a vaster empire than any Roman, either before or after him. The fierce nations in the dark forests of the vast regions north of the Danube and east of the Rhine had, until his time, successfully resisted the progress or the Roman arms; but his legions forced the passage of the Danube, and, after five years conflicts, conquered the kingdom of Dacia, occupying the regions now marked upon the maps as Hungary and Roumania. I will quote from Gibbon’s Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire; Vol. I., page 7. The edition of Gibbon that I use, and from which all my reference, will be made, is Milman’s Gibbon, in six volumes. After an account of the the conquests of Trajan north of the Danube, the historian speaks of his campaigns in the East: “The praises of Alexander, transmitted by a long succession of poets and historians, had kindled a dangerous emulation in the mind of Trajan. Like him, the Roman emperor undertook an expedition against the nations of the East; but he lamented, with a sigh, that his advanced age scarcely left him any hopes of equaling the renown of the son of Philip. Yet the success of Trajan, however transient, was rapid and specious. The degenerate Parthians, broken by intestine discord, fled before his arms. He descended the river Tigris in triumph, from the mountains of Armenia to the Persian Gulf. He enjoyed the honor of being the first, as he was the last, of the Roman generals who ever navigated that remote sea.

His fleets ravaged the coasts of Arabia; and Trajan vainly flattered himself that he was approaching the confines of India. Every day the astonished senate received the intelligence of new names and new nations that acknowledged his sway. They were informed that the kings of Bosphorus, Colchos, Iberia, Albania, Osrhoene, and even the Parthian monarch himself had accepted their diadems from the hands of the Emperor; that the independent tribes of the Median and Carduchian hills had implored his protection; and that the rich countries of Armenia, Mesopotamia and Assyria were reduced into the state of provinces.” This remarkable period of conquest the period when the mighty empire of Rome reached its greatest magnitude, when a Roman emperor followed in the track of Alexander and stood upon the banks of the Arabian Sea, when his armies reached, and the nations obeyed his decrees, from the shores of that Southern Ocean which a Roman had never seen before, to the far distant waters of the Northern Ocean that bathed the British isles, is certainly fitly represented by the symbolism of the vision. Let it be remembered that these events did not follow in some distant age. It is the first seal of the book of the future that was opened. The visions under this seat represent the first events in the order of time that are the subject of prophecy. Those events, it is stated in the opening verse of the book, were “shortly” to come to pass. Trajan was a distinguished general when John wrote.

Before John had passed from earth Trajan had received the diadem, and before a generation had passed he stood, the mightiest conqueror of the Roman name, save Julius Cζsar, upon the shores of the Southern Ocean. His age was not only an age of conquest and triumph, fitly symbolized by the white horse and his rider, but an age of internal peace and prosperity. Gibbon (vol. 1. p. 95) declares that “If a man was called upon to fix the period in the history of the world, during which the condition of the human race was most prosperous and happy, he would without hesitation name that which elapsed from the death of Domitian to the accession of Commodus.” Of this happy period, Trajan, who ascended the throne four years after the death of Domitian, is the chief figure. We have found that the symbols are strikingly fulfilled in the epoch of Roman history, known as the age of Trajan, or of the Antonines, beginning with the reign of Nerva.

1. It began immediately after John wrote.
2. It was a period of prosperity.
3. It was the period of the mightiest extent of Roman power.
4. It furnished one of the mightiest conquerors of the Roman name.
5. He was a crowned conqueror, after he received his crown, went forth to conquer.
6. This fulfillment is within the scope of prophecy, which embraces the Roman Empire. There is one circumstance, however, that has as yet found no fitting explanation. The rider of the white horse was armed with a bow. This significant fact indicated that Christ was not signified, nor was the bow a Roman weapon. The Roman conquered the world with the short sword. The only weapons he carried to battle were the javelin, which he threw from a distance, and the sword, which he used at close quarters. There were bowmen in Roman armies, but they were not Romans. The bow marks some one else than a Roman warrior. There were two races on earth at that time who were famed as bowmen. The bow was the national weapon of the Parthians beyond the Euphrates, and of the Cretans. These islanders were the most famous archers of the world. In all Grecian history the bowmen of their armies are Cretans. The Rhodian slingers, the Thessalian horsemen, the Spartan spearmen, and the Cretan bowmen are constant features of Grecian history. The bow, the national weapon, might signify some one connected with Crete. Now I am ready to indicate the astonishing historical accuracy of the prophecy. The bow was not a Roman weapon. The national weapons of the Romans were the javelin and the sword. Though there were bowmen in their armies, they were not native Romans. If a Roman soldier was symbolized, he would not be represented as armed with a bow. This weapon would indicate that we must look elsewhere for its fulfillment than to a soldier of the Roman race. A remarkable historical fact is illustrated by the bow. Beginning with Julius, the “Twelve Cζsars” who ruled the empire in succession were all of pure Roman blood. Domitian, the last of the “Twelve Cζsars,” the persecutor of John, was of the Roman stock, but he was the last emperor of an old Roman family that ruled for ages.

He was succeeded by Nerva, the founder of a family that furnished five Cζsars in succession, Trajan being the adopted son and successor of Nerva, as was Adrian, of Trajan, Antoninus, of Adrian, and Aurelius, of Antoninus. Nerva, the first emperor of this new family, the inaugurator of this epoch of Roman history, was not of the Roman blood. Dion Cassius, a historian of that age, states that he was of Greek descent; and another Roman historian, Aurelius Victor, says that his family came from the Greek island of Crete; or, in other words, he was a Cretan. We have already found that the national weapon of the Cretans was the bow, and that they were famous as bowmen in all the ancient armies. The sharpshooters employed in almost every campaign were Cretans, and they were as famous for their skill with the bow as the Rhodians were for their use of the sling, or the Romans with the short sword. Let it be distinctly noticed that the first Emperor of this epoch, and founder of a family of emperors, was an alien–the first alien who ruled Rome; that his family was of Cretan blood, and that the national weapon of the Cretans was the bow.With all these facts before the mind it is not possible to have a reasonable doubt concerning the signification of the first seal. We have therefore solid ground from which to start in our interpretation of the other seals.

Revelation 6:3-4

THE SECOND SEAL. And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see. And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword.–6:3, 4. Next in order, the second seal is opened by the Lamb. Next in chronological order to the history foreshadowed by the first seal, we may expect the events of the second seal to follow. Will the reader stand with John on Patmos and behold the vision? John beheld the Lamb open the second seal of the book, and the voice of the second beast was heard to repeat the command “to come and see.” Immediately the first vision is replaced by a second, of a startling character. There appears in the field of view a, second horse, no longer white, but as red as blood. Upon the horse sat one with a great sword in his hand, to whom “was given power to take peace from the earth, and to make men that they should slay one another.” The explanations already given will assist us in determining what this symbolism must mean. The horse is the symbol of war, but the changed color indicates that the conditions of war are entirely changed. It is no longer triumphant war in the dominions of their enemies, while within all is peace, but the land is drenched in blood. During the period of the first seal the fertile provinces of the Roman Empire, never saw the face of a hostile soldier, unless borne is a captive from the distant frontiers, where the Roman generals waged triumphant wars in the countries of their enemies. All was peace within. At no other period of the twelve centuries that passed from the foundation of the city of Rome, until it was taken by the Goths, was the condition of the empire so happy, or its population so prosperous. Golden streams flowed from every land into the coffers of Roman citizens. No fear of hostile invasion or internal disturbance ever troubled the tiller of the soil, and artisan. Under the firm but mild rule of Trajan, and the Antonines, security, peace, and plenty smiled upon the civilized world. The epoch of the first seat was one of triumphant war, but of internal peace. It is not such a period which is predicted by the second seal. It indicates the existence of war, but that internal peace will exist no longer. The “earth” contemplated by John was the Roman earth, or empire. From it peace shall be taken away. Nor is it to be destroyed by foreign invaders. “They are to kill one another.” In as plain language as symbolism can disclose, it is indicated that the next great feature of history is that the land shall be torn by civil war. CIVIL WAR.–The meaning of the symbol is plain. If it has been fulfilled, we must look for an epoch of civil war, following soon after the events of the first seal. History ought to point out a period of civil commotion following the glorious period of conquest indicated by the first seal. That period of peace ends with the reign of Commodus, who was slain A. D. 102. Let me repeat a passage of history that will serve to illustrate the character of the next period. Commodus, the son of the second Antoninus, ascended the throne in A. D. 182. He was one of the most contemptible tyrants that ever cursed a people, but was borne, with for ton years on account of the virtues of his father. At last his excesses could be borne no longer, and he was slain by the Prζtorian Prefect, aided by various inmates of the palace, ‘whose lives were threatened by the tyrant. His assassination took place in A. D. 192, and immediately, the Prζtorian Prefect induced Pertinax to ascend the vacant throne.

Eighty-six days after, he was murdered by the Prζtorian soldiers whom he refused to bribe. The crown was then sold to the highest bidder, and was bought at auction by Didius Julianus. As soon as the news of this shameful sale of the sovereign power reached the army of the Danube, it proclaimed its general, Septimus Severus, Emperor, and marched upon Rome. After a reign of sixty-six days, Didius was defeated, dethroned, and beheaded. The army in the island of Britain and also that in Syria, each considered its right to make an emperor as good as that of the army of the Danube, and each nominated its general for the throne. For four years the empire was torn by civil war, and Severus, after a desperate contest, vanquished successively and put to death two rival competitors for the throne.

Thus, the next period begins, but this is not the end. It is marked in the history of man by the most prolonged and sanguinary civil commotion that history records. “Peace was taken from the earth” for ninety-two years. During this long period of nearly a century, the Roman Empire, that portion of the “earth” which was the seat of civilization and of the Christian religion, was constantly torn by bloody, civil contests between rival competitors for power. The history of this epoch is epitomized by Sismondi in the following language: With Commodus commenced the third and most calamitous period, it lasted ninety-two years, from 192 to 284. During that period thirty-two emperors, and twenty-seven pretenders alternately hurled each other from the throne by incessant civil warfare. Ninety-two years of almost incessant civil warfare taught the world on what a frail foundation the virtue of the Antonines had placed the felicity of the empire. Sismondi’s Fall of the Roman Empire, Vol. I. p. 36. A full history of this dark and unhappy period is also given in the first volume of Gibbon. That the reader may form a better conception of this era of blood, I will give a table of the emperors, indicating those who died violent deaths. The first column of figures indicates that the emperor whose name is opposite died by violence. The second column, with figures at such rare intervals, indicates when an emperor died a natural death. NAME OF EMPEROR.WHEN HE DIEDCommodus192 Pertinax193 Didius193 Severus 211Geta212 Caracalla217 Macrinus and his son218 Elgabalus222 Alexander Severus235 Maximin and his son237 The Two Gordians237 Maximus238 Balbinus238 Gordian the Third244 Phillip and his son249 Decius and his son251 Gallus253 Volusion 253Ζmillianus253 Valerian260 Gallienus260 Nineteen Tyrants260-8 Claudius270 Aurelian275 Tacitus276 Florianus276 Probus282 Carus283 Numerianus293 Carinus284 In this list are thirty-four emperors, besides nineteen pretenders, known as tyrants. Of these all but two died violent deaths. What could more strikingly represent such a period of civil contention, of incessant civil warfare, of fratricidal bloodshed, than the red horse and its rider, “to whom was given a great sword, and the power to take away peace, that men should kill one another?” I suppose that no such prolonged and terrible period of civil warfare can be pointed out in the history of the world, and there is certainly a wonderful correspondence between the vision and the events of history. There is one feature of the vision that has not yet been considered. There was given to the rider of the red horse a great sword. It has been found that the bow under the first seal had a special significance, and there is reason to believe that the sword marks particularly some feature of the fulfillment of the second seal. It is easy to understand that such a symbol points to the military order as the class “to whom it was given to take peace from the earth.” Wherever there is a standing army there is a class whose profession is war. To this bloody trade their whole lives are devoted, as those of others are devoted to commerce, or to agriculture. They are men of the sword.

At this period Rome kept immense standing armies upon all the frontiers, in the outlying provinces, in the great cities, and in the capital itself. It was the quarrels of this class among themselves, that filled the earth with blood and desolation. Civil wars arise from various causes. Our own was a conflict of the citizens of the Republic over the extension of slavery; the last great civil contest in England was concerning the prerogatives of the crown, and divided the nation into two great parties, under Parliament and king; at an earlier date in Roman history, a mighty contest between the popular and aristocratic factions had convulsed the state for generations; but this terrible period of civil commotion, without parallel in the history of a civilized state, was due solely to the jealousy and ambition of the men of the sword. No principle was involved in the fearful struggles, and the nation had no interest, save in being ruled by the least ferocious of the contending generals. It is an era of the sword, of the total abeyance of civil rule for that of the sword, of the earth drenched in blood by the contests between the men of the sword. What could more appropriately describe such all epoch than the giving of a great sword, the military emblem, to the figure that marches before the vision of the prophet? It is possible that a still more particular fact may be indicated. There was stationed at Rome an army corps which outranked all others, received the highest pay, and peculiar privileges. This band of soldiers was called the Prζtorian Guards, and their commander was styled the Prζtorian Prefect. When he was inducted into his office, by the emperor, there “was given to him a sword.” This was a symbol of the fact, that he had jurisdiction over the life and death or citizens for one hundred miles around Rome. He was the only officer, besides the emperor, who had the right to inflict death at the capital. It was this Prζtorian Prefect, inducted into office by the public investment with a sword, and the Prζtorian Guards, who inaugurated this long period of blood.

It was the Prζtorian Prefect who secured the death of Commodus, and made Pertinax emperor. It was the Prζtorian Guards who slew Pertinax eighty-six days after, and sold the crown to Didius Julianus. It was the Prζtorian Prefect who slew Caracalla, the son of the successor of Didius. It was these lawless soldiers of fortune who precipitated the era of blood. Those who dissent from this interpretation of the second seal, must admit that the imagery of a prophetic vision never received a more striking fulfillment.

Revelation 6:5-6

THE THIRD SEAL. The first and second seals mark distinct epochs, clearly separated from each other. We can determine the exact number of years that belongs to each period. It is not possible to separate, with the same distinctness, the events indicated by the third and fourth seals. The prophecies are fulfilled with startling accuracy, and the occurrences symbolized by each seal follow each other in the same order as the seals, but the events overlap, and are related to each other as effects to cause. During the terrible period of civil commotion, indicated by the red horse, the era of blood and anarchy produces the events symbolized by the black horse, and as the combined result of the two preceding seals there follow the events indicated by the pale horse. The opening of the third seal is described in these words: And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo, a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny: and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine. 6:5, 6. Again there appear a horse and a rider. Again the color of the horse is changed, as well as the instrument held in the hand of the horseman. If the white and red colors, the bow and the great sword, had a significance, this must be true also of the black color and the balances. It has been found that the horse, whatever his color, is the symbol of war. The black horse makes it plain that the land is torn by calamitous war, and is filled with sorrow, mourning, and despair. Black is the color of mourning. The prophet (Jeremiah 14:2,) says: “Because of the drought Judah mourneth, and the gates thereof languish; they are in deep mourning (lit. black) for the land.” This single illustration shows the idea attached to this gloomy color in all ages. The things to be noted in this vision are,

1. the horse;
2. his color;
3. the balances in the hands of the rider;
4. the charge given to him. As to the first and second of these, the meaning is plain. There is more difficulty about the last two items. If the balances were alone, we would say that they were a symbol of justice, but in the hands of the rider of the black horse, and in the connection that follows, they are an indication of a scarcity of food. “Bread by weight” indicates scarcity. The following passages indicate the significance of’ the weight in connection with food: And when I have broken the staff of your bread, ten women shall bake your bread in one oven, and they shall deliver you your bread again by weight: and ye shall eat and not be satisfied. Leviticus 26:26. Moreover he said unto me, son of man, behold, I will break the staff of bread in Jerusalem: and they shall cat bread by weight, and with care; and they shall drink water by measure, and with astonishment: That they may want broad and water, and be astonied with one another, and consume away for their iniquity. Ezekiel 4:16-17. The balances were also, in those days, used in taxation. A portion of the produce was demanded in Judea, is still in Turkey, and was a part of the taxes extorted by the Roman Empire. The balances indicate a period of excessive taxation, as well as of scarcity. The prices of wheat and barley are famine prices. The “measure” was about a quart, and the term rendered “penny” is the Greek denarius, which was equivalent to about fourteen cents of our money. A bushel of wheat, at the price designated, would be worth four dollars and fifty cents, and of barley one dollar and fifty cents; but in those days the relative value of money was four or five times greater than at present.

A denarius was the usual price of a day’s labor. Hence, when we consider the changed value of money itself, the prices of wheat and barley must be placed at about twenty dollars, and six dollars per bushel, respectively. Nothing but a period of extreme scarcity could maintain such exorbitant prices. Oil and wine were the common articles of food for the people, but the voice prohibits their use. Taken in connection with the context it is implied that in this time of want they are no longer in use by the common people. There is designated a period of extreme taxation, of enormous prices, of great scarcity and want. This is just what continued civil war would effect. Military expenses would multiply taxes. This was done even by our civil war of four, instead of ninety-two years. Lands would lie uncultivated, crops would be destroyed, and vast regions would be desolated by the march of contending armies. High prices, scarcity, and want, would necessarily be the result. I will not consider the historical fulfillment of those features of this seal, which refer to scarcity and want, until I explain the next seal. I have already stated that these seals are in part coincident in time, and under the fourth seal, the seal of Death, famine is one of the awful agencies employed. The feature of crushing taxation is, however, peculiar to the third seal, and I will make quotations from our usual historical authority, Gibbon, and also from Lactantius, a historian of the fourth century. Gibbon notes in strong language the ruinous edicts promulgated in the reign of Caracalla (A. D. 211-217) and his successors, as being among the prominent causes of the decline and fall of the empire. He says: Nor was the rapacious son of Severus (Caracalla) contented with such a measure of taxation its had appeared sufficient to his moderate predecessors. Instead of it twentieth, he exacted a tenth of all legacies and inheritances, and during his reign he crushed alike every part of the empire under the weight of his iron sceptre. Vol. I. p. 95. In the course of this history, we shall be too often summoned to explain the land tax, the capitation, and the heavy contributions of corn (wheat), wine, oil, and meat, which were exacted of the provinces for the use of the army, the court, the capital. Swarms of exactors sent into the provinces, filled them with agitation and terror, as though a conquering enemy were leading them into captivity. The fields were separately measured, the trees and vines, the flocks and herds were numbered, and an examination made of the men. * * * The sick and weak were borne to the place of inscription, a reckoning was made of the age of each, years were added to the young and subtracted from the old, in order to subject them to the higher taxation the law imposed. The whole scene was filled with wailing and sadness.–Lactantius.Could there be a more impressive symbol of such a period than is supplied in the vision and charge of the third seal?

Revelation 6:7-8

THE FOURTH SEAL. And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see. And I looked, and behold a pale, horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth. 6:7, 8. Again, for the fourth time, the exile Of Patmos beholds a horse. It is still a time of war. The horse is now pale, the bloodless color of the sheeted dead. Upon him sits an undescribed figure, called by the apostle, DEATH. Behind the dread destroyer follows Hades, the unseen world, swallowing up the dying mortals and hiding them from human vision. The means employed to destroy men are described. Death and Hades employ, (1) the sword, or war; (2) hunger, or famine; (3) death, or pestilence, for so is the word hero used often translated, and such is its meaning in this place; and, finally, (4) the destruction caused by the wild beasts of forests and field. The evident meaning of this symbolism is so plain that all can understand its application, and we need only ask if the facts correspond. Do we find the scarcity, want, hunger, and pestilence, indicated by the prophecy, during the latter portion of this period of civil commotion? Do we have an awful reign of Death in the forms signified by the seal? Let the reader turn to the tenth chapter of the first volume of Gibbon’s Rome. It recounts the events of the reign of Gallienus, which ended in A. D. 268, or about seventy-six years after the death of Commodus. It details the attempts of no less than nineteen pretenders to the throne, who aroused rebellions that were quenched in blood, and themselves forfeited their lives by their presumption. It describes the dreadful sufferings of the Roman Empire during the period of disaster and gloom, and then the historian closes the chapter with the words we give below. I ask the reader to carefully read the words of the Scripture and then compare them with the following words of Gibbon: But a long and general famine was a calamity of a more serious kind. It was the inevitable consequence of rapine and oppression, which extirpated the produce of the present, and the future harvests. Famine is almost always followed by epidemical diseases, the effect of scanty and unwholesome food. Other causes must, however, have contributed to the furious plague, which, from the years two hundred and fifty to the year two hundred and sixty-five, raged without interruption in every province, every city, and almost every family of the Roman Empire. During some time five thousand persons died daily in Rome; and many towns, that had escaped the hands of the Barbarians, were entirely depopulated. Applying this authentic fact to the most correct tables of mortality, it evidently proves, that above half the people of Alexandria had perished; and could we venture to extend the analogy to the other provinces, we might suspect that war, pestilence, and famine, had consumed, in a few years, the moiety of the human species. Let all notice the correspondence. The prophet asserts that one-fourth of mankind would be destroyed, but the infidel historian goes beyond the prophet, and doubtless exceeds the facts when he makes the mortality twice as great. The prophet names the sword, famine, pestilence, and beasts of the field as instruments of destruction. The historian affirms that half the human race were destroyed by the first, three of these agencies, but fails to mention the fourth. We might, without historical proof, dare to assert that on the terrible depopulation of large districts, the beasts of prey, wolves, hyenas and lions, would so multiply as to become objects of terror, but we are not left to this necessity. Not a generation later, about A.

D. 300, Arnobius “Adv. Gentes,” refuting the charges made by heathen that various calamities were due to the enormous increase of Christians, exclaims: “When were wars waged with wild beasts and contests with ions? Was it not before our time? When did a plague come upon men, bitten by serpents? Was it not before our time?” I have thus far discussed the opening of four seals. The second verse of chap. VI. reveals to us the white horse and the crowned conqueror who was his rider. This I have pronounced the seal of conquest, foreshadowing the wonderful conquests of Trajan, in the second century. The red horse of the fourth verse is the seal of civil war, fulfilled in the awful convulsions that began about A. D. 186, and agitated the whole civilized world.

The third seal, the black horse and balance of the fifth verse, is the seal of want, while the next, the pale horse of the eighth verse, is the seal of death.Such is the symbolism of the first, second, third and fourth seals. About its meaning there can be no mistake. Nor can there be any doubt as to its wonderful fulfillment. Prophecy, on the one hand, points to the pictures upon the panorama of Patmos, and says, “Here is the future.” Upon the other hand, history points to its undubitable records, and replies, “Here is the fulfillment.” The intelligent reader beholds with astonishment the wonderful agreement.

Revelation 6:9-11

THE FIFTH SEAL. It is evident, from the entire change of the imagery, that, after the fourth seal, the subject of prophetic vision is entirely changed. The horse now disappears, and is seen no more in connection with the opening of the seals. Along with the horse the armed warriors sweep out of sight. The reader should mark carefully the following language: And when he had opened the fifth seal I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellow servants also and their brethren that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.–6:9-11. Instead of the warlike pictures which direct our thoughts to the changing fortunes of earthly kingdoms, the attention is turned to something passing in the altar court of the apocalyptic temple. This locality, an essential part of the new vision, shows that it refers in some way to the Church, of which the temple was the well-known type. I wish the reader to note distinctly that the subject of the fifth seal must be entirely different from that of the four preceding seals, and that it is conceded by all to find its fulfillment in the Church. The scene now depicted in the altar court is one in which the worshipers are not living, but have passed from life. The voice that is raised is not of psalmody or praise, but of suffering. It is heard proceeding from beneath the altar, and comes from “the souls of them that had been slain for the word of God, and the testimony of Jesus.” From those shadowy forms the cry ascended: “How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell upon the earth?” There comes the answer that they must wait until the time of the slaying of their fellow servants should be fulfilled. What does all this signify? Our attention is turned from scenes of battle, political convulsions, plagues, famine and general calamity to a suffering Church. It is a time of persecution.

The fifth seal is the seal of persecution, and it evidently marks some notable era in the history of the Church, when more fiercely than ever before it felt the intolerant hand of “them who dwelt upon the earth.” The fulfillment is to be sought in a war of extermination waged against Christianity. Again we ask if, following the events already described, history records events that fulfill this prophecy? The persecution signified would not precede the events of the first four seals. It could not, if our interpretation of these seals is correct, be that of Nero, or Domitian, or Trajan, or Severus. It must be sought after the triumphs of Trajan, the calamities of the civil contest, the period of want, famine and pestilence. It must therefore be found after A. D. 284, when this calamitous period came to an end. The ninety-two years of civil turmoil began A. D. 192 with the death of Commodus. They ended in A. D. 284. In that year Diocletian ascended the Roman throne and his reign was distinguished by the most terrible, most prolonged, and most general persecution known in the history of the ancient Church. The Emperor was not by nature a persecutor, but the great men or the empire, especially Galerius, whom he had associated in the duty of Government, were alarmed it the astonishing progress of the new religion, and demanded its extirpation. At last Diocletian yielded, and became a leader in the effort to root out the religion of Christ from the very face of the earth. There seemed to be little probability that the empire, almost ruined by the calamities of almost a century, should be in a condition to engage in a persistent and sweeping attempt to blot out of existence a Church that had already become powerful, but at this period it was raised from a state of imminent dissolution to some of its ancient power. “Oppressed and almost destroyed, as it had been,” says Gibbon, “under the deplorable reigns of Valerian and Gallienus, it was saved by a series of great princes, Claudius, Aurelius, Probus, Diocletian and his colleagues; who within a period of thirty years, triumphed over the foreign and domestic enemies of the State, and deserved the title of the restorers of the Roman world.” During the period of restoration the churches enjoyed quiet, hut in the very year that was completed, the same year that Diocletian celebrated his triumph over all enemies and the pacification of the empire by triumphal entry into Rome, in A. D. 303, the persecution began. Early in that year secret councils were held in Nicomedia, concerning the destruction of Christianity. “Perhaps,” says Gibbon, “it was represented to Diocletian, that the glorious work of the deliverance of the empire was left imperfect so long as an independent people (the Christians) were permitted to subsist and multiply in it.” On the twenty-third of February, the first blow was struck. An armed force was sent to destroy the great church of Nicomedia, and to burn the sacred books, so carefully preserved in that day when the printing press was unknown. This was the signal for beginning a persecution which was, by the consent of all historians, the longest, the most general, and the fiercest ever waged against the Church. It is a remarkable fact that a chronological era, dating from the time when Diocletian began to reign, instituted not for religious, but astronomical purposes, and used until the Christian era was introduced in the sixth century, has received its name from the persecution, and has been called the era of martyrs. Again we are indebted to Gibbon. In his second volume he recounts the gradual origin of the persecution, first foreshadowed by an imperial edict, issued about A. D. 301, prohibiting Christians from attending their religious assemblies. In A. D. 303, the unfaltering purpose of Christians to persevere in the duties of religion, aroused the Emperor to the sternest most extreme measures. The cruel determination of the monarch is recorded in Vol. II., page 69, in the following language: The resentment, or the fears of Diocletian, at length transported him beyond the bounds of moderation, which he had hitherto preserved, and he declared, in a series of cruel edicts, his intention of abolishing the Christian name. By the first of these edicts, the governors of the provinces were directed to apprehend all persons of the ecclesiastical order; and the prisons, destined for the vilest criminals, were soon filled with a multitude of bishops, presbyters, deacons, readers and exorcists. By a second edict, the magistrates were commanded to employ every method of severity, which might reclaim them from their odious superstition, and oblige them to return to the established worship of gods. This rigorous order was extended, by a subsequent edict, to the whole body of Christians, who were exposed to a violent and general persecution. The terrible persecution thus inaugurated has been described by all church historians. It differed from all others in various respects. They were local, this was general; those were for a little season, this raged ten years; those were only designed to stay the progress of Christianity, the purpose of this was “to abolish the Christian name from the earth.” It is impossible for us to determine the number of martyrs who suffered from the imperfect statistics that have reached its, but if the estimate or 700,000 sufferers in Egypt is not an exaggeration, the aggregate slain through the Roman Empire must have numbered millions. Who shall doubt, when such a persecution occurs next in order after the events foreshadowed by the symbols of the preceding seals, that the prophet described this remarkable period of death and tribulation in the history of the Church by the prayers of the martyrs under the fifth seal? Is it strange that this notable era in the history of the Church, when it felt all the force of the iron hand of Rome, when it was engaged in a stern and deadly grapple with the monarch of the world, when the blood of the suffering saints flowed in rivers, when whole congregations were driven into their houses of worship and burned with the buildings dedicated to God, when from the suffering, bleeding, mangled Church throughout the world, arose the cry, “O Lord, how long;” is it strange that so striking a period should be the subject of an apostle’s prophetic vision? And, is it not certain that the fifth seal is the seal of persecution?There is a feature of the cry of the martyrs, and or the answer, that calls for notice.

The martyrs ask for judgment and retribution upon their persecutors. We know that at this period the Church held the belief that a terrible retribution would soon come upon their enemies.

In the answer to the martyrs, there are three things that are noteworthy. First, it is said that they must await the great judgment, which would not be until another distinct set of martyrs was slain. These are evidently the martyrs slain, not by pagan Rome, but by anti-Christ. Second, they must wait “a little season.” This season is to be measured by God’s standard, mid not by ours. Third, there was given unto them white robes. White robes are a symbol of justification and of triumph. “The white robes are to him that overcometh.” These souls are not in the inner sanctuary, the type of heaven; but under the altar of the outer or court, the type of the world.

The white I to robes. therefore, imply their triumph and justification upon the earth. This came within twenty-five years of their suffering, through the formal acceptance of Christianity by the Roman Empire.

UNDER PAGAN ROME. It will interest the reader in connection with the terrible outburst of imperial fury under Diocletian, which sought the utter destruction of Christianity, to study its condition under the various seals before that of Persecution. I have made extracts from Eliott which will be given in order. The The first will relate to the treatment of Christianity before the period of the first seal began, under Domitian and Nero.1. From the people the outcry against Christianity rose up to the Governors. At first they treated it with indifference, then other results followed. The first Imperial persecution of Christians, that by Nero, was on of singular character and origin, inasmuch as he took advantage of the odium prevalent against the Christian body in Rome, to fix upon them the charge of the incendiarism of the city.

Under Domitian, the second Imperial persecutor, the case was different. The numbers had now so increased in the empire, that his jealousy, being awakened by informers against, sundry classes as plotting treason, naturally awakened against Christians among others. Besides the usual charge of atheism, it was said that this aspiring body was seeking a kingdom. So the jealous Emperor slew, in the person of his own uncle Clemens, the Christian of noblest blood and rank; banished the only surviving apostle of the Christian faith to Patmos; and summoned the nearest surviving relatives of him the Christians called their king. But he found the last-mentioned to be poor men, heard that it was a kingdom not of this world, and dismissed them with contempt. Thus far St.

John himself had beheld the progress of persecution. Soon after, on Nerva’s accession, Christians, among other sufferers from Domitian’s tyranny, were set free. Against Christians, as Christians, no direct law as yet existed. II. Under the first seal. About this time, however, or soon after, the effect on public habits and feelings had become so striking, and constituted a social phenomenon so entirely new, and on so vast a scale, is necessarily to arouse both the curiosity and anxiety of the ruling powers. The Governor of Bithynia, the younger Pliny, wrote to the Emperor Trajan of the temples being in disrepute and almost deserted in his province, from the influence of the body of men called Christians; and at the same time, of the popular fury being such against them, as to charge them with every crime and violently to call for their punishment, though on examination their morals seemed to him to be singularly virtuous and innocent. This was an æra in the history of the persecution of the Christian Church. In Trajan’s rescript, the law was first declared respecting them, thus far mildly, inasmuch as there should be no inquisition for Christians by the public officers; but that, when brought in regular process of law before the Governor, and tried by the test of sacrificing to the gods, the recusants should suffer punishment. Now began the apologies of Christians. Quadratus and Aristides were the first to appeal in behalf of the Christian body to Trajan’s successor, Hadrian; then afterwards, Justin Martyr to Antoninus Pius. And both Hadrian, in the spirit of equity, issued his rescripts against punishing Christians for anything but political crimes, and the first Antonine, yet more decidedly though not uniformly with success, protected them against violence. But the second Antonine adjudged Christianity to be a direct crime against the State; enjoined inquisition against Christians, the application of torture if they refused sacrificing, and if still obstinate, death. The wild beasts, the cross, the stake–these were the cruel forms of death that met the faithful. Many were now gathered under the altar: among others the souls of Polycarp, of Justin Martyr, and of the faithful confessors of the Church at Lyons. III. Under the second seal. As the period of the red horse succeeded, and when, amidst the civil commotions ensuing, they that shed Christian blood had it given them in a measure to drink blood, the Church enjoyed a temporary respite which lasted through the reign of Commodus and to the commencement of that of Sulpitius Severus. But, shortly after, a law of the last-named Emperor, forbidding conversions to Christianity under heavy penalties, at once indicated its increasing progress in the empire; and also, as Christianity could not but be aggressive and proselyting, revived persecution against it. Now Irenæus, Bishop of Lyons, suffered. But the brunt of the persecution fell on the Churches in Africa and Egypt. And Tertullian, the Carthaginian presbyter, rose up as their apologist. IV. Under the third seal. Under the third seal, and when again, in God’s righteous retribution, the people that had so long instigated the malice and the rapacity of unjust provincial Governors against Christians, had their lot darkened by the letting loose of that very rapacity and injustice on themselves, at that time the same voice in the Imperial Government that called, but ineffectually, for equity in the general administration, called, but as ineffectually, for equity also against Christians. Alexander Severus confessed his admiration of Christian morality, and of Him too who had been its first and divine teacher. On a particular occasion he even recognized the Christians as a lawful corporation, and protected them A Rome against their enemies. But it was protection partial only and transient.

Martyrs were still slain. The name of Hippolytus, Bishop of Porto, stands; eminent among them. Moreover, the former antichristian laws remained unrepealed. And, after his death, his successor, Maximin, renewed the imperial persecution against them; the rather as against a body which Alexander had favored. His edict was directed specially against the bishops and leaders of the Church. But in its effects it went further.

It animated the heathen priests, magistrates and multitude against Christians of every rank and order. “Smite the shepherds, and the flocks shall be scattered.” V. Under the fourth seal. Such was at that time the anticipation of Origen; very soon it had its fulfilment. The period of the fourth seal succeeded to that of the third. It was seen by the Emperor Decius that if the State religion were to be preserved, the Christian must be crushed; that the two could not long exist together. Thereupon he determined on crushing Christianity.

Like those of the second Antonine, his edicts commanded inquisition of Christians, torture, death. Then was the consternation great. The Bishop of Alexandria, Dionysius, expressly records it. For the Church had now lost much of its first love. There were some apostasies; there were many faithless:–the libellatici and the acta facientes–professors who neither dared to confess, nor to apostatize, and bribed the magistrates with money to spare them the conflict. But now Death on the pale horse, having received his commission, had entered the empire.

The sword of the Goths, one of his appointed instrumental agencies, struck down the persecuting emperor. His successor, Valerian, presently after, animated by the same spirit, renewed the persecution. The bishops and presbyters, those that led on the Christians to the conflict–and the Christian assemblies, that which supplied the means of grace which strengthened them to endure it–against these the imperial edicts were now chiefly leveled. Then was Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage, added to the glorious army of martyrs. But God again interposed. Valerian had his reign cut short by the Persian sword.

And Gallienus, his son and successor, trembling under God’s sore judgments, though still unconverted, sensual, hard-hearted, issued for the first time (A. D. 261) an edict of toleration to Christianity. Their churches and burial-grounds were now restored to Christians; their worship permitted. Though the popular outbreaks against the disciples were by no means altogether discontinued, Christianity was legalized. Such, in brief, were the persecutions of Christians in the Roman Empire prior to that by Diocletian. During the progress of the gradual restoration of the empire which commenced soon after Gallienus’ edict of toleration, the toleration continued. But as soon as the restoration was completed, persecution broke out afresh after its slumbering, like a giant refreshed with sleep. It combined in itself the bitterness of all the former persecutions, with the new feature superadded of war against the Holy Scriptures, by the destruction of which, it was now rightly judged, that Christianity might best be destroyed, “When he opened the fifth seal, I saw the souls of them that were slain for the Word of God and for the testimony which they held.”

Revelation 6:12-17

THE SIXTH SEAL. I must ask the reader to attentively examine the latter portion of Revelation, chapter VI., before reading what I have to say under the head of the sixth seal. It runs as follows: And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every freeman, bid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; and said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?–6:12-17. The scenes beheld by the apostle are startling, and calculated to fill the soul with awe and consternation. The earth reels in a mighty earthquake, that hurls mountains and islands from their places, and the awful agitation extends from the earth upwards to the heavens. The sun is black as sackcloth, the, moon is red as blood, stars fall from their places in the the heavens, and the heavens themselves are rolled away as a scroll. As he gazes, the face of the earth and sky is so changed that there might be said to be a new heavens and a new earth. At the same time he hears the agonized cries of men, both great and small, who cry to the hills to fall upon them and hide them from the face of the Lamb. The imagery described is most striking, and certainly portrays remarkable changes. We have already found that this is symbolism, and we are not to look for a literal fulfillment, but for historical events which would correspond to the symbolical pictures. We are not to expect that this seal will be fulfilled by literal earthquakes, falling stars, blackened sun and moving islands and mountains, but by the events of which these physical signs are symbols. Before we point out the fulfillment we must pause to indicate the symbolical meaning of some of the terms which are employed. These may be gathered from any good dictionary of symbols, and, indeed, the signification of most of the terms must be apparent. An earthquake, in agitation of the earth, must refer to great political or religious commotion upon the earth. As John’s “earth” is constantly the Roman Empire, this commotion will be within its limits. The Lord, speaking of the revolution which would be effected by Christ, says, Haggai 2:6-7 : “Yet once, it is a little time, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land, and I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come.” The earthquake is often used by the prophets as a symbol of political or religious agitation. The sun, moon and stars refer to earthly dignitaries, great lights in the political or religious heavens. In the dream of Joseph, which so maddened his brethren, these terms are used in this meaning, as well as by the ancient prophets. In the East it was common to liken the king or emperor to the sun, and stars are the symbols of princes and rulers.

For the use of the term we refer the reader to Daniel 8:10. The blackness of the sun and the bloody hue of the moon point out scenes of sorrow and bloodshed. The, falling of the stars would indicate the downfall of those who had held high places on the earth, or rather within the Roman Empire. Mountain and island are used to denote earthly the latter referring more especially to European provinces which were often called “the isles of the sea.” From the period of Diocletian, the great persecutor, the title, “Your Eminence,” or, in other words, “mountain,” was bestowed upon princes. As a mountain stood above the plain, so the rulers or the earth were exalted. With these definitions before our minds, it is easy to discover that the sixth seal is a period of mighty and startling revolutions, not in the heavens, but upon the earth, which are wrought out amid scenes of sorrow and blood. The various phenomena in earth and sky, the earthquake, the falling stars, the heavens rolled away, the mountains and islands moved out of their places, all foreshadow a violent, bloody, remarkable upheaval of systems, rulers, government, kingdoms, and the establishment of a new order upon the earth. It is on earth, it is in history that we are to look for the fulfillment of the prophecy. And since the “earth” that is present to the mind of John is the civilized world known to the ancients, the Roman Empire, it is within its boundaries that we must look for the fulfillment. There can be no doubt that this is “the seal of revolution.” Some who have held that we were to look in history for the explanation of John’s symbols, have thought that the sixth seal was fulfilled in the rush of the savage nations of the North down upon the decaying Roman Empire, a movement which resulted in the destruction of the old nations and the establishment of new kingdoms and races. We shall take a different view, for the reason that there is another revolution, nearer in point of time, closely following the great persecution of the fifth seal, that in a surprising manner fulfills the imagery; and, in addition, the invasions and destruction wrought by the savage hordes from the North are symbolized by, the events connected with the blowing of the first four trumpets, as narrated in the eighth chapter. Several circumstances help us to fix the meaning. 1. The time. It follows immediately after the great persecution indicated by the fifth seal, which closed in A. D. 311. These events occur, then, near that time. 2. It is a time of blood and mourning.

Who are the mourners? Kings, great men, rich men, bondmen and freemen. Are these Christians? They are enemies of the Lamb, who fear his wrath and mourn over his power. The mourners are the opposers of the Church.–(Verse 16.) 3. The seal is followed by a period of great joy and prosperity on the part of the Church.–(See chapter VII.) An innumerable multitude are sealed with the seal of the Lamb, of which the next chapter gives record.

Have we, near A. D. 311, the time when the great persecution closed, a period of mighty revolution, that filled the unbelieving world with mourning, and which was followed by a time of triumph, prosperity and glory to the Church of Christ? We ask the reader’s attention to the history of that epoch. Three years before, or A. D. 308, the vast Roman Empire had been broken up between no less than six emperors. Jealous of each other, each determined to grasp an undivided power, they watched one another, and prepared for mortal combat. They hesitated four years before the Roman world was dyed in blood. We will observe the course of only one of the six, Constantine, afterwards called Constantine the Great. In the year 312, leaving Britain, marching through Gaul, he launched his armies upon Italy. The Church watched his progress with singular interest; for although he bad, as yet, made no profession of Christianity, his mother, Helena, was a Christian, and it was felt that he was favorable to his mother’s faith. The Italian emperor opposed to him, Maxentius, was a firm Pagan, and around him centered the interests of the Pagan faith. Indeed, he gave public assurance that he would extirpate the Christian religion, and vowed to Jupiter that, in the event he was successful, he would make his worship universal on the ruins of Christianity. He and his adherents were the avowed enemies of Christ, and Paganism staked all upon his success. Three great battles were fought, the last in the suburbs of Rome.

In the retreat Maxentius was slain, and Constantine was master of Italy and the West. In the meantime Licinius, also a Pagan, another of the six, had made himself master of the East by the overthrow and death of rivals, and in A. D. 314 the armies of the West and East were arrayed against, each other, to determine who should be the master of the world. With some truces and treaties, which were made only to be broken, the mighty contest that convulsed the civilized world lasted until A. D. 324, when Licinius, defeated, powerless, a prisoner, was put to death, and Constantine remained the sole master of the possessions of the six emperors. We have, then, surely a time of blood, a time of mourning, a time when kings and earthly dignitaries fall and mourn, a time when the kingdoms, signified by mountains and islands, are moved out of their places. But these are not the most remarkable changes of this period. Let us note these: 1. The votaries of the old Paganism had rallied around the enemies of Constantine, because he was felt to be its unrelenting foe, who would compass its destruction. When he was seated in triumph upon the ruins of six imperial thrones, there was great mourning from the enemies of the Cross. They felt that theirs was a doomed religion. They were right. 2. In the year 319, before his final triumph, he had decreed that his mother’s religion should be tolerated as an acknowledged faith of the empire. 3. In 321 he decreed that Sunday, the sacred day of Christianity, should be observed in all the cities by the cessation of trade and labor, 4.

In 325 he abolished by decree the bloody combats of the gladiators, where men killed each other to amuse the populace, a Roman institution that had existed for a thousand years. 5. He convoked, by imperial authority, a great council of Christian bishops, the one known in history as the Council of Nice. 6. In 331 he decreed that the Pagan religion should exist no longer, and that all the heathen temples should be leveled, or converted into churches, 7. At the same time the old Roman laws were remodeled according to the precepts of the Christian religion, and a Pagan empire was transformed into an empire of the Christian faith, under new institutions. Surely the old heavens were moved away as a scroll is gathered together. But this is not all.

I name another wonderful change of this age of revolution. It was not enough that he was determined to destroy the old Roman faith and the old Roman customs and laws–he aimed a blow at Rome itself.

For near eleven hundred years it had been the seat of empire, growing from a village, with a few miles of territory, to be the mighty capital of the world. In 324 he determined to shake the Roman world to its very center, and to deprive the imperial city of the crown worn for eleven centuries by removing the capital from Italy to a new city upon the banks of the Hellespont, that should henceforth be called Constantinople, from his own name. The mighty mountain of the West is moved from its place. In these events, constituting the most remarkable revolution that has occurred in the history of the world, we realize a complete fulfillment of the symbolism. Sun and moon are dark and bloody, the stars fall, and mountains and islands are removed; but it is proper to ask whether, in the mourning of great men, and freemen and bondmen, there was a feeling that they were suffering from the wrath of the Lamb? It is apparent that all regarded the great contest as one between Christianity and Paganism, though Constantine did not proclaim warfare in behalf of the Church. It was also entirely in accordance with Pagan superstition for them to believe that Christ was fighting against them. It was held by Pagans that their gods fought upon the fields of battle by giving strength to the arms of those whom they feared; and when Pagan hopes were blasted by the success of Constantine, it was recognized as the triumph of Christ. The vengeance that was wrought, the sweeping revolutions that took place, the upturning of the old order, and the overthrow of the heathen temples, were all recognized as exhibitions of the wrath of the Lamb; and we are told that more than one imperial champion of Paganism called, in his hour of distress, to Christ, to have mercy.

Some of the Pagan writers almost adopted the language of Revelation in describing this period. The ruin of the Pagan religion is described by the Sophists, says Gibbon, “as a dreadful and amazing prodigy, which covered the earth with darkness, and restored the ancient dominion of chaos and night.”